There is a weather line about halfway between my home in Stone Mountain, Georgia and where my sister lives about 30 minutes north of Macon. It is not uncommon for rain to fall on one side of this visible line across I-75, but not on the other. However, I’ve never seen rain fall on one side of a house, but not the other, or as in this case, sunshine without any rain on both sides of the rain column. It looked like someone was using a gigantic sprinkler can creating long slow-moving drops of rain.

Natural phenomenon is fascinating. I might call my sighting a miracle. I’m sure there is a scientific explanation, but as a writer, I prefer my interpretation. Also, I enjoy pondering how the Mayans and other ancient people knew how to build huge temples without using mortar.

They used the stars. Of course, they used slave labor.

Modern life lacks the mystery for me. For example the homeless, present wherever I go, make me think about how little we have progressed in our understanding about a fair and equal society. I think about how much I compromise my values to remain stable and comfortable. Maybe the homeless are the last rebels against tyranny.

In the movie Glass Castle based on the bestselling memoir by MSNBC gossip columnist, Jeanette Walls, we see the life of her parents who had money, but chose to swat in abandoned buildings and be homeless with their brood of children. “You’ll always have your star,” is said to each child as they pick and name a star with their alcoholic father, played by actor Woody Harrelson. At times the grand gestures seem idyllic, but their is real, every-day hunger for the minor children. Another line: I never kid about food,” is said by the grownup, now wealthy daughter–played by the superb Brie Larson–as she puts her leftovers in a doggie bag in a swanky restaurant in New York, and then asks the client if they’re finished with their food. Priceless.

3 Responses to Miraculous Random Rain

I’ve had rain in my front yard and at the very same time…no rain in the back yard.. That was a fun happening. Read the book and saw the movie. What those children lived through broke my heart at times.

We read Glass Castle a couple years ago in my book group. Some people in our group thought it ridiculously facetious, saying “there couldn’t possibly be parents like that.” Others of us thought differently. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but have been looking forward to it.

It’s based on a memoir about dysfunction. If the movie is exaggerated from the book they pulled it off. The alcoholism and history of child abuse in the father’s history, plus the mother’s co-dependency, and their belief that the values of mainstream America were wrong worked for me.